Why a basketball reporter has been forced to apologise to Australia for eating a pie wrong

When the Philadelphia 76ers signed young Australian Ben Simmons to their roster, they had the perfect idea for a marketing promotion: adding meat pies to the menus at their concession stands.

Pies are an important business in Australia but, unlike on the terraces of UK football grounds, they’re a relatively unknown quantity at American sporting venues, where hot dogs and nachos are often the order of the day.

Enter ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell, who went the extra mile to help out fans by posting a video of himself tasting a Four’N Twenty pie to Twitter so they’d know what to expect.

The @sixers, inspired by Australian star Ben Simmons, are now selling Meat Pies at their games. I put them to the taste test this morning. pic.twitter.com/vgtSDaeLcv

I have been destroyed all day for how I apparently tested out the Australian meat pie being offered at 76ers games. Now that the police are involved, I would like to extend my sincere apologies. https://t.co/HNa24A5YGc